Civil Service Bargaining Update – March 28

Civil Service Bargaining Update – March 28

Dear member,

The Civil Service Bargaining Unit Negotiating Council (BUNC) met on March 25, 2013 to discuss and evaluate the current state of collective bargaining with the Public Service Commission to renew the Civil Service Master Agreement, which expired on March 31, 2012 (although it should be noted that the agreement remains in force and effect until a new agreement is concluded).

Employer and union proposals, as well as newly agreed provisions and the employer’s present offer were all considered. It was the unanimous view of the council that the employer’s present offer did not contain sufficient contract improvements which would warrant recommending acceptance to the membership.

In particular, a number of important improvements are being sought with regards to a number of issues including, but not limited to, substantially altered classification grievances, vacation entitlement, mileage and vehicle allowance reimbursement provisions, long overdue increases in meal allowance rates and other premiums, improvements in the Relief Employee Memorandum of Agreement, hours of work and caseload/workload issues.

Most importantly, BUNC members were also very concerned and strongly supportive of ensuring that the existing job security provisions contained in the Memorandum of Agreement #3, which were negotiated in the present agreement in 2010, continue for the entire life of a new three-year agreement, and not expire in March of 2014, as proposed by the employer.

In support of the concerns and the recommendation of the Union Negotiating Committee (UNC), the following motion was unanimously approved that:

The Civil Service Bargaining Unit Negotiating Council (BUNC) endorses the recommendation of the Union Negotiating Committee (UNC) to reject the latest offer of the employer and to initiate by April 15, 2013 the process to conduct a rejection vote by the membership as soon as possible. However, it is agreed that the voting process will be held in abeyance to allow for further negotiation, should the employer contact the union to return to the bargaining table in a timely fashion.

We will soon begin the process of informing our members of the specific details of negotiations in support of rejection of the present offer and referral of outstanding issues to interest arbitration. At the same time, we will also be in contact with the employer about returning to the bargaining table in an attempt to resolve some of the outstanding issues with the objective of achieving a tentative agreement as soon as possible.

The continued support and patience of the membership is acknowledged and very much appreciated while your negotiating committee attempts to conclude an acceptable agreement on your behalf.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact a member of your Bargaining Committee, or the NSGEU at 424-4063 (toll free 1-877-556-7438), or email us at inquiry@nsgeu.ca

Union Negotiating Committee:

Clerical Bargaining Unit

Beth Hingley          the.hingleys@ns.sympatico.ca

Donna Jean MacLean    macleadj@gov.ns.ca

Professional Bargaining Unit

Stephen Newson     newsonst@gov.ns.ca

David Brewster      brewstdr@gov.ns.ca

Technical Services Bargaining Unit

Meg Campbell    marguerit.campbell@gmail.com

Dustin Rioux    riouxdr@gov.ns.ca

Keiren Tompkins, Chief Negotiator

424-4063 or 1-877-556-7438

ktompkins@nsgeu.ca